Engaging with stakeholder groups

Stakeholders are groups or individuals who influence the activities of an organization or who are influenced by that organization. This includes employees, customers or suppliers, in the broader sense also neighbors, political organizations, the public or the environment. Those stakeholders often have their own unique and justified perspective and perception of your company.

In order to deliver appropriate and effective CR initiatives, you need to take these various perceptions seriously and make an effort to understand them.

Often, your stakeholders and their perceptions represent valuable opportunities because they can help you identify which topics are really relevant.

Who are your stakeholders?

Example

Studiosus’ business is planning, marketing and operating study tours. This line of business connects the company with a wide range of stakeholders. As the graphic below shows, the company identified its stakeholders along the value chain of a Studiosus tour.

Internally, several company departments are involved in the process of creating a study tour, including Planning, Procurement, Sales, Marketing, and Execution. Several other departments, including Admin and Human Resources, also participate in a supporting role. At the end of the value chain is the customer purchasing the service, i.e., the tour.

Customers are Studiosus’ primary stakeholder group; they view the company as a partner. Good customer relationships and customers’ satisfaction with the tours are key requirements when it comes to securing the company’s existence.

No less important are the company employees throughout the value chain who are involved in setting up the study tours. The company relies entirely on a well-qualified, motivated workforce to succeed in meeting the high expectations customers have of a Studiosus tour.

Studiosus’ business partners include hotels, incoming agencies, carriers and travel agencies. On site, the company also has business partners involved in marketing and administration. Collaborating successfully with them is essential to attaining the company’s objectives successfully.

Studiosus’ stakeholders additionally include the local people at tour destinations, and the company is well aware that tourism can create problems. It therefore respects the interests of local populations, their independence, their customs and traditions and their desire for self-determination.

Lastly, the stakeholders include travel and tourism professionals, ranging from trade associations, tourist offices and tour operators to governmental and non-governmental organizations, travel and tourism media, and the general press.